In Memory: Nora's Dream
by Mida Swithpie
Summary: Nora's dream is more than what it seems. Not that they would ever need to mention it.


Nora knows how to make people happy, it's like her favorite thing to do. She loves when their eyes go thin and glow as their faces wrinkle in adoration. She loves it especially when she makes her parents smile. As a matter of fact, they're her favorite. She spends most of her life making them smile, always excited to see their faces bend upward in joy.

She never would've thought that she'd see the day that her favorite person to make smile wasn't her mom or her dad anymore, but the little boy sitting by the pond, crying all by his lonesome.

She had been running through the town flea market, poking at the ripe apples and making the little old lady at the bookstore laugh as she danced. It was her neighbor, Ms. Kelli, who had stopped her and asked her to investigate a little bit of commotion toward the East.

"Oh, is it little Eleonora up to her happy antics again?"

"Good morning Ms, Kelli! How have you been today? Lookin' for a great big smile?"

"I believe that seeing your face is just good enough for me today, but Eleonora, I have a request for you? Would you like to accept it?"

Nora couldn't turn down a request, not if she wanted to make sure everyone smiled. She nodded vigorously and Ms. Kelli kneeled to her height, leaning into Nora's ear.

"You need to promise to keep this a secret. It's a big mission. Are you sure you're ready for it?"

"Oh yes, Ms. Kelli! Yes, yes, yes! I promise, I promise!"

"Okay, okay Eleonora." Ms. Kelli laughed, taking hold of the little girls excitedly shaking shoulders. "Calm down. Now, down by the pond, there was a noise I heard that worried me. I can't help at the moment, because I have to go home to Jamil, but I think I can trust you enough to handle it."

"You can! You can!"

"Good. Now run along, Eleonora. I'm not sure how long the noise will last, and you need to hear it to investigate it."

Nora couldn't hold herself back. She sprinted through the market, listening to the amused laughter of the other patrons as she ran, glad to have everyone happy for another day.

The pond square was very much empty, most likely because of the flea market being set up. She looked around the large area, listening closely to the noises of the birds and the frogs. Above all of that, she could hear some sniffling. She stopped dead in her leisurely tracks and squinted her eyes, peering around the little square.

On a bench underneath a thick lush tree, camouflaged by the grass of the pond bank was a little form, hunched over. Their green clad back shook as another sniffle sounded, this time matched with a gasp. She hummed and quickly rushed over, her shoes tapping loudly as she approached. She stopped beside the bench, peering over the iron armrest to land her gaze upon his little balled up form, his knees to his chest and his hair long enough to hide the side of his face, but not to hide the tears dripping onto his beige pants.

"Hello!" The boy jumped and turned to directly face her and quickly tried to scoot away from her as she climbed over the armrest and crawled toward him, still smiling widely. "I'm Nora Valkyrie, decendent of Ancient Legend, Thor!"

"S-Stay away from me!" He fell off the bench with an 'oof' and shuddered as he hit the ground. Nora furrowed her eyebrows and stared down at him from the bench.

She started again, not understanding why this boy was running away from her. This time she stayed still. "My name is Eleonora Honora Valkyrie. Decedent of the Ancient Legend Thor. You can call me Nora. What's your name?"

He stared, still and uncomfortable at her overbearing form. She sat up on her knees, slightly distancing herself from him as he wiped at his eyes and sniffled. With the way he was looking at her, she understood now what she had done wrong now.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I just wanted to know why you were crying."

"It's not any of _your_ business! You wouldn't understand anyway…"

Nora gasped at his harsh response as he stood, his body much smaller than she had imagined. He watched him become defensive while he bunched his fists at his sides, his gaze stuck to the ground.

"But I can try."

She smiled as he looked at her, his neon pink eyes wide in surprise, and as far as she could see, repressed pain.

"B-B-B-"

"No really. I can-"

"Beowulf…"

His voice was small and shaky, staring through her. She blinked and turned slowly facing the open square, her view blocked by the large black Beowulf growling at her tiny, now shaken form. She slowly pulled herself from the bench and stood beside the boy, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as they shook. She felt him reach up and grab at her hand, sniffling. The wetness of his cheeks caught her attention, though when she looked at him, he didn't seem to be scared. More so determined as he glared at the Beowulf directly in front of them.

She squeaked as he jumped to the side, pulling them both out of the way of the freshly lunged Beowulf. Together they attempted to run, but were stopped by another Beowulf, growling at their tiny shaken forms. They turned, trying to find another way, but there was the first Beowulf sneering at them once again.

They each kept their gaze locked on each respective one. With a yelp, Nora pulled him to the side as the Beowulves lunged at them, hitting each other instead. She took hold of his thin arm and lead him to the edge of the pond, the only unblocked direction. They stood on the edge as they turned back to the Beowulves who were now angrily glaring at them.

Nora was at a loss. Nowhere to run or hide, and she didn't even get the chance to make the boy smile. With a shuddered sigh she turned to him, a bright smile on her features.

"My name is Nora Valkyrie. I'm a decedent of the Ancient Legend, Thor. What's your name?"

He furrowed his eyebrows at her, though not once removed his hand from hers. "D-'Decedent'? Y-You mean 'descendant'?"

Nora gasped and jumped in slight joy. "So that's how you say i-"

She was suddenly thrown backward, landing harshly on the cobblestone ground of the pond square. On top of her form was the smaller form of the boy, his attention on the now drowning Beowulves in the pond, yelping and howling for help as they sizzled away.

"Nora!"

"Lie Ren!"

Nora turned to the voice that called at her, and she smiled at the sight of Ms. Kelli beside her mother rushing toward her.

"Mommy!" She jumped up after the boy pulled himself off of her. She threw herself happily into her mother's arms.

"I'm so glad you're safe. I saw the Beowulf jump at you, and my heart stopped- I was so worried."

"I'm okay though, Mommy. The boy helped me."

She turned to the spot she was laying and blinked in surprise when noticing that he wasn't there anymore. She looked around the whole pond square and saw his form being pulled away by a much taller old man who was clearly going too fast for her new friend and a woman who was sternly strutting beside them.

"Wait-"

"No, Nora. Leave them alone. They aren't… the nicest people." Ms. Kelli hummed gripping at her wicker basket.

"But he saved me…"

The next day, she had returned to the pond, but he wasn't there.

And the day after that.

And the day after _that_.

And the day _after that_.

Until a whole week had passed.

She was standing at the ponds edge, thinking about her nightmares. Ever since that day, she couldn't help but dream about the boy being hurt by a Beowulf, about not being able to save him. It was a scary thought. She was so deep in thought, she hadn't had heard him approach. She jumped when he poked her arm.

When she had turned to look at him, he was the first to speak.

"My name is Lie Ren. I'm a descendant of Hua Mulan. You can call me Ren."

She blinked and stared. And blinked and stared. And blinked and stared until he flushed. That's when she smiled brightly and replied. "My name Eleonora Honora Valkyrie. I'm a _descendent_ of the Ancient Legend, Thor. You can call me Nora."

They stood uncomfortably for a few seconds before Ren hummed in question.

"What is it, Ren?"

"H-How are you… a descendant of Thor? Isn't he a god from another universe?"

Nora smiled and giggled. "I dunno. Because I said so!"

"But that doesn't make-"

"Hey, do you know what noise a sloth makes?"

Ren choked on the question. "Sloths don't-"

"Boop!" She poked his nose.

He flushed red once again and covered his nose. "Why did you-"

"Man, it's hard to make you smile." Nora commented, leaning down slightly to meet the boys shorter form.

"Wha-?"

"Come on! If I can't make you smile, then my mom's cookies will! She said they should be done by the time I get home! She says this time they're special because she got a lot of Lien from the Beowulf skin that was left behind in the pond, so they'll taste extra good! Mommy says the skin makes good rugs!"

"Wha-? Wait!"

* * *

"So, there we were, in the middle of the night."

"It was day."

"We were surrounded by Ursi."

"They were Beowulves."

"Dozens of them!"

"Two of 'em."

"But they were no match. And in the end, Ren and I took them down, and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

Lie Ren sighed. "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month, now."

Nora hummed and giggled as Ren sipped from his mug once again.

Her thoughts agreed, "He's smiling on the inside."

* * *

**Author's Note:** **Both Eleonora and Honora can be nicknamed as Nora, and I couldn't decide which on to use, so I used both!**

**I wrote this a long time ago and figured, why not upload it? Hopefully you all enjoyed it, yes? Review and tell me what you think. I was thinking of doing prompts like this for all of the the cast in RWBY. Jaune maybe with his sisters. Or Weiss and her sister. Blake as kid, standing at the front line of a peaceful protest.**

**I made it so that the story Nora told at the table was in all actuality a memory of when she first met Lie Ren.**

_**Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction using characters from the RWBY world, which is trademarked by Monty Own. Both Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie are characters created and owned by Monty Oum, and I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of RWBY. The story I tell here about Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie is my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of RWBY's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am grateful to Monty Own for his wonderful creation, for without it, my story would not exist.**_

* * *

Rest in Peace, Monty. You will be missed.


End file.
